Pumping mechanism.



M; E. LAYNE.

PUMPING MEGHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 29. I9I4.

Patented Jan. 9,1917.

INVENTOR 3l /MMM rLMy/cu/ ATTORNEYS LON E. LAYNE, or HOUSTON, v :r

rmnrrne nner-ramen.

To all whom t may concern: l

Be itv known that l, MAnLoN a citizen of the Unitedv States, residing atHouston, in the county of Harris and State of Texas, have inventedcertain new and use- ,ful Improvements 1n Pumping Mechanisms,

of which the following is, a specification.

The invention relates to pumping appara? tus, and particularly toapparatus involving" the use of a rotary -Orcentrifugal pumpy operatedby an inclosed line shaft supported by bearings and requiringlubrication.' v The primaryobject of the invention isthe provi-y sion ofmeans wherebythe leakage of oil' from the inclosed line shaft and intothe pump casing isprevented `when the pump is not running, thusconserving the oil and pre# venting the water from being charged withoil when the pump first starts'. Certain ern.l

bodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawingswhereinf- Figure 1 is a vertical section through a pump mechanismlsuppliedI with my improvement, Fig. 2- isan -enlargeddetail tion takenat -the stuiingQbolxin-'thepump casing, Fig., 3 is a plan viewy of the"checkvalve member below thefpum'p casing, and

Fig. 4 is ran enlarged detail section of ajmodifp cation of thestructure of Fig.A 3.

'ln the ordinary centrifugal .or rotary.

pump construction for use in lifting. a supply of water tothe surface ofthe groundl for irrigation or otherpurposes, the drive shaft issupported in what is lmown as a'shaft casing, which' extends from' thepump to the surface ofthe ground,l and provides, not

only for thesupport of a plurality ofv bear-l ings for the shaft casing,but also constitutes a conduit whereby lubricant supplied to the upperend of the casing is conducted to the various bearings along the shaftand to the upper bearing inthe pump casing. This lubricant is feddownward b gravity, and'by -the suction produced in' t e pump by therunners, so that Awhile the pump is v Pump running these variousbearings are supplled with the proper amount of oil, such oil beingeventually discharged into the water in the pump casing and carriedtothe surface vof the ground with it to the discharge casi' ing. When thepumpis stopped and the water in the discharge casin and'pump cas-; ingruns back to the suction 'pipe vof the pump, there is nothing to preventthe lubricant, of which several feet may have collected at the bottom ofthe shaft casing, from' Specification ofi- Letters latent. 1

atenten aan. o, iat.

aannemen inea sebtber 2e, 1914. senfamLetaoae.; t

graf'dually'- leaking' down into I the caslng, so that a largeguantityof oilis wa well ischai'gedf with". this large quantity-k of`oil,".whieh is olijlectionableflt is the pur,-

pose of my invention to do awayv with this loss'of oil when vvthe pumpis not running,

by the provisionoffmeans which will stop the downward discharge .:ofvthe: lubricant duringthe periods of rest, while atthe same timepermitting the proper downward feed of oil as. heretofore described whenthe pump 1s running.

Referring to the drawings, the 'principal vpartsof the apparatusillustrated in Fig. l,

maybe enumerated as followsf l is the outer casing of a twostageFrotaryfpurnp provided with the sets of runners 2 and 3 se.- cured forrotation. tothe pump shaft e; 5 is the discharge casing of the 'pumpleading to` the surface of the groundand discharging the water fromthepump through the outlet vthe shaft casing 7 v;.an'd 11 is the suctionpipe end of the pum casing. v `Just below t e bearing-12 thepumpcasingfis the. stuffing .boxv illustrated in enlarged detail in Fig.'2, such 'stuffling box comprising the collar 13 secured to :and whenthe pump ystarts the water ofthe' of the pump, such pipev leading to thelower in the neck'of the shaft by means of the set screw 145 and f aglandy 15'*beneathwhichpacking is pro; 5

vided in order to prevent thepassage of water alongthe shaft'll.Slidably and loosely mounted von: the shaft 4c`beneath1the v collar' i13 is a second collar 1.6, to thelowersurface of'which is secured adiaphragm 1 7, which serves to'divide the space in tliepump 'cas-v,ingbeneaththe bearing 12 into twochamybers-18 and '19. Thecollar'lfcoperating with the collar-13 acts substantiallyas aIcheclr'valve, and when the parts are in the position indicated in Fig.2, the passagev of 'fr liquldfrom theA chamber 18 .to the chamber 19 fisprevented.v 'On the other hand, when thecollar 16 is moved .so that ltsupper surthen a free passage is afforded along the Ashaft from vthechamber` 18 tothe chamber 19; lItwill be seen that when the collar 16Aface does not contact with the collar 13,'

l i`s held up against the collar 13 in the position indicated in Fig. 2,the ydownwardiow I ofA oil :from the shaft casing 7 and from thechambe'rl is prevented. The means where-` by this engagementbetween thetwo collars is e'ected whenlthe pump stops will now be described. Q, 1 l

Located intermediate the lower end of theV pump casing land the.'upperfe'nd of the suction pipe 7 is acheck valve coupling 'member 20,such member being provided with a number of perforatons as indicated inFig.' 3, 'suchA 'perforations 'being provided with sleeve members- 21carrying lbolts Intermediate the heads of theLbolts vand theA sleeves21. are the check valves 23 yieldingly held in positionbythe springs 24.The type of' check valve 'employedis immaterial, as

'any other type of check' valver permitting the upward passage :ofthewaterbut preventing its reverse movementmay be em- 1 ployed, The purposeof lthis cheek valve f e(instructien at the lower end of'. the pumpcasing, is to provide fora hydrostatic head l i in thel pump casing fandthe4 discharge cas` ing 5 suicienttooperatethecheck valv`e16 i. j whenthe pump is stopped.

When the pump. 1s 1n operation, the check vl`valve 16 and thecheck valve23 dol'not a'ect -either thefow of the water to theA pumpcasingon'the'feed-of the' oil to the discharge casing to. any.appreciable extent.' The rota tion of the runners produces a suctionadjacent the 'shaft casing so that thev liquid in the chamber 19 beneaththe diaphragm' 17 ,is fed downwardly and mixes with the water -as 1tvdischarges upwardly through the pump cas:-

fing. 'J'lhe pressure on the lower lSide of the from the upper side ofthe diaphragm to they lower side. ,A continuous feed of oilv'fromt`diaphragm 17 is thusless than on the ilpper side, and' as a result thecollar 16 vv1s held 1 with its upper face separated from the lower-`iiace of the collar 13, thus permitting a flowl the shaft casing andalong the bearing 12 is thus provided for. When however, the' operationof the runners is stopped, the im provement heretofore described andmvolvthe discharge casing 5. -A considerable wa# t ing the two checkvalve devices comes into play. At this time thecheck'valve 23 below thepump casing c oses, thus trapping the water thereabove in the pumpcasing and 1n 'ter pressure is thus'secured in vthev pump capsing, and,due to the loose fit of the drive shaft 4 and lits bearings, thispressure 1s l communicated 'to the chamber 19 below the wasted while the4pump is not inoperation and when the pump-does start there is no` thefurther additional 'advantage that'when thepump' starts up again, thelwater immediately begins to How from 'the'outlet 6 since the water 1nthe casing extends almost to this lqevel when the pump `is started.

The check valve co'lpistructionl illustrated in Fig. 2 is only one of'anumber which mightbe employed. Fig. 4 illustrates a slightly difierentconstruction in which a piston with a cup leather is substituted for thediaphragm 17 of the'construction of Fi 2. ln this construction of Fig. 4the stu ng box member 13 is the same as in the other construction,

andthe member 16"'corresponds to the collar 16 of Fig. 4, such member 16tting loosely upon the pumpshaft 4 as in the other construction', Themember 16 reciprocates ,in the cylinder 25 and a cup leather26'is'em#ployed to prevent a passage of liquid from 'one side ofthe member 16 tothe other, when the parts are in the position of Fig. v4. This cupleather is clamped in position by means of the collar 27, forced up bythe nut 28. lit

willbe understood that the hydrostatic head as secured by the use of thecheck valvesbeneath' the pump casing would be more or less eiective toprevent a downward flow oi? oil without the oil check valve, and thatthe oil check valve might be held yieldingly in closed lposition by.other means aside from the employment ofthe hydrostatic head, it

so desired, my invention being of relatively broad scope` with respectto these features, and not limited to their employment in conjunction,although this is preferable.

stub shaft 29 is screwed to the central portion of the check valvecoupling member 20, having its upper end projecting above the support'to receive the lower end of the pump runner 3, which is provided with acup i .shaped bearin 30 fitting over the projecting end of the stushaft. rlhe stub shaft' serves to hold the pump shaft and runnersproperly centered, and is lubricated by oil sup- Aplied through the pipe31. extending from ,the top-of the wall and connecting with the voilpassage 32 bored in the stub shaft 29. This passage supplies oil totheupper end of the' stub shaft, thereby thoroughly'lubrieating all wearingsurfaces of the'y bearing.

A valve 33 neer the bottom of the iii-P631, operated by the wire 34extending' to the top of the well, controls the .supply of oil necessaryfor the bearing. Because the bearing bushing .3D-s elo/sed et the topand iS in the form'of an inverted cup, regardless of the. Water pressureno; water can be forced upward between the 'Stub (shaft and the bushingwhile there is o il lubricating the bushine', and therefore no vSand inthe surwundiing waefa'ener'-1re bushing. 'rie ne e@ of the bushingisconsiderably increased by such construction.

WhatI claim is:

41. In combination, a pump casing, run-v ners therein, a shaft forrotating the runv ners, a shaft casing provided with bearings for theshaft and adapted to carry a supply of lubricant, a discharge casingleading upward from the pump casing, and a check valve held closed whenthe runners are not rotated and adapted to prevent a flow of lubricantfrom the shaft casing to the pump casing below the valve at such time.

3. In combination, a pump casing, runners' therein, a shaft forrotating' the runners., a' shaft casing provided with bearings for theshaft and adapted to carry a supply of lubricant, a discharge casingleading upward from the pump casing, a check valve exposed on one.sideto the pressure of the l oil in the shaft casing and on the other sideto the water' pressure in the pump casing, c

and a second check valve for preventinga back fiow of water through thepump casing when the rotation of the runners is stopped whereby a headof water is secured at such time suiiicient to maintain the firstmentioned check valve closed.

4. In combination, a pump casing, ners therein, a shaft for rotating therunners, a shaft casing provided with bearingsfor the shaft and adaptedto carry a supply of lubricant, a discharge casing leading up- Ward fromthe pump casing, and means, including a check valve f orv preventing aback ow of water through the pump casing for maintaining a head of waterin the discharge casing, when the rotation of the runners is stopped,suiiicient tol counterbalance the head of oil in the shaft casing andprevent a down How of oil at such time. v

5. lIn combination, a pump casing, runners therein, a shaft for rotatingthe runners,. a shaft casing provided with bearings for the shaft andadapted to carry a supply of lubricant, a discharge casing leadingupward from the pump casing a bearing for the shaft at the upper end ofthe pump casing, acallar secured to the shaft below said bearing, asecond* collar loose on the shaft and adapted when held against thefirst collar to act as a check valve, means coperating with the secondcollar .for separating the space in the casing` above`such collar fromthe space in the casing therebeneath, and

.means whereby the second collar is made to contact with the firstcollar when the runners' are not rotated.

6. In combination, a pump casing, runners therein, a shaft for rotatingthe runners, a shaft casing provided with bearings 'for the shaft andadapted to carry a supply of lubricant, a discharge casing leadingupward from the pump casing, a bearing for the shaft at the upper end ofthe pump casing,

a collar secured to the shaft below said bearing, a secondl collar looseon the shaft and adapted whencheld against the first collar to act as acheck valve, means coperating with the second collar for separating thespace in the casing above suchcollar from the space in the'casmgtherebeneath, and a' check valve below the runners for preventingl aback iow of water -through the pump casing when the rotation of therunners is stopped.

In testimony whereof I have hereuntol signed my name in the presence ofthe two subscribed witnesses.

MAHLON vIll. LAYNE. Witnesses: i 'I Ancnwon'rri MARTIN, J ULIAN H.vKENDIG.

so f

